PIIT28 – before and after, statistics and an honest review

Oh wow, I finished PIIT28! 28 days of workouts and good food and it’s safe to say that my Christmas belly is long gone. At the beginning of January, I posted my monthly plan and mentioned PIIT28 and DietBet, and I also posted a weekly recap to keep me accountable. Go to Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 to see some of my favourite (or least favourite) exercises and the foods that helped me get to this day. It’s now time for a final recap and the dreaded weigh-in.

PIIT is Pilates Intense Interval Training, and 28 is the number of minutes the workout takes. It’s four rounds of 7 exercises of 45 sec each with 15 sec break in between. But, warmup and cool down are advised, so the entire session takes 45 minutes. Oh, and the programme also takes 28 days (6 workouts per week, 1-day rest). If you make it through the 28 days and complete an Instagram challenge at the same time (post a picture every day with a particular theme), you can request a PIIT28 t-shirt because you earned it. I also opted for the vegan meal plan.

Let me first tell you that since I became a minimalist, I think about every single purchase I make. I had my eyes on PIIT28 for a few months before I decided to click buy. So I really, really thought it’s the right choice for me and here is why:

My 54.9kg plateau that I was stuck in for a year was becoming frustrating, so I knew high intensity might be a solution;

Everything is digital. So it matches the minimalist lifestyle; no DVDs, no clutter;

Not many programmes out there have vegan options for the meals, so this was a big plus.

How was it?

I am moderately fit, but I can tell you the workouts were hard (but doable). You do everything – cardio, abs, upper body work, lots of leg and butt work, so you get the best of both worlds – strength and cardio fitness. Here are the main points I’d like to make.

1. You don’t get bored
For the first two weeks, there is a different workout every day (except for the Friday one), so there is always something new and exciting. The last two weeks are a repetition of the first 2, but when you do the workout, the first thing you notice is how you’ve progressed. You see the progression, not the fact that you’re doing the same workouts again. I enjoyed the process, and I have never missed a day or a workout, although this meant that I woke up at 5 am every single day.

2. “Get Flexy” warmup and flexibility didn’t really work for me
For warmup and stretching, you do have the same videos every time. But the time you spend with them (6 min for the warmup, 8 for stretching) is short enough; you don’t have time to get bored. The idea of doing the same stretches is to see progression at the end, but I’m already pretty flexible, so this one didn’t work for me. Wheel pose was an advance variation for one of the stretches, but you guys know that I can already do it well. But in the end, this is not a flexibility programme, so moving on.

3. 28 minutes pass quickly
Once you start the round, you’re so focused on every exercise that you don’t even know where the 7 minutes go. 45 seconds for each is enough to keep you in the zone, but not too much as to make you stop and cry in pain. For me it was something like this:
Round 1 – “wooo, let’s see what we have today.”
Second round – “nice, let’s see what move I can do better.”
Round 3 – “already halfway there, give it a bit more, Andreea.”
Final round – “last one, give it your best and then you’re done!”

4. You can’t outrun a bad diet
I’m pretty sure I got the results I did because I also ate well. I’ve seen many before and after pictures on Instagram of girls that did the programme but kept their eating habits. And I’ve got to tell you; you can’t see much of a difference. Yeah, you still get the fitness benefits (you get stronger, faster) and mental benefits (more confidence), but your body is not going to change too much. Not in 28 days anyway. Any change takes time. An excellent example of what food can do is the blog post I wrote after week 2.

5. The meal plan is now my go-to recipe book
I didn’t follow the meal plan per each week, I just browsed and chose recipes that I want to try. And there are many that are now forever on our menu. And there are loads to try still. This will keep me going for a few months!

6. The Instagram challenge is a nice way of meeting others that are going through the same things
For each day of the challenge, you have a hashtag. For example, #PIITday22. If you browse the hashtag you then see what others are doing on the same day, who started about the same time as you, you offer and receive encouragement. And you get to post anything from pictures of food to pictures with you as a baby, sweaty selfies, things you like or hate about yourself and so on. I rarely post personal stuff on Instagram, so this was a chance for people who follow my account to know more about the human Andreea, not only fitness addict Andreea.

7. This is not over
I already have plans for February and March, but I think I’m gonna come back and do another round of PIIT later in the year. Also, it’s going to be my vacation workout – it’s easy to do in a hotel room when I’m away.

Also, I am now an ambassador, so if you do want to purchase it, please use the following links. I paid for the programme myself, and all opinions are my own, but I will receive a small commission if you buy it.

If you want the TRANSFORMATION PACK (workouts + meal plan, contains PIIT28 version 1, 2 and 3), link is here;

If you only want the workouts, PIIT POWER PACK (PIIT version 1, 2, 3) is here.

8. My results
I did lose weight, I did get stronger, and I did have fun. One of the best outcomes was the fact that I improved my running fitness (you can read about it in week 3). I also loved being part of a community, learning new recipes and having a morning routine. Oh, and my knee pain is almost gone, all that butt work gave good results! I do regret the fact that I didn’t have any more time for my yoga practice, so I’m looking forward to getting back on the mat.

Here are some statistics for January and the long-awaited before & after pictures.

Oh hey, I have abs now! Those measurements seem unreal, right? But the change in my belly and chest is obvious.

OK! It’s a wrap! Bye for now PIIT28! And if you’re thinking about trying it out, you can ask me anything!

2017-01-29

3 Comments

Hi Andrea, could you tell me more about the vegan meal plan. I am not vegan but since I am breastfeeding I am considering taking the vegan meal plan. Whats a typical days meal plan like? Also are these meals easy to prep?

Hi, Anna! First of all, I have to mention I didn’t try all the recipes – for example, I hate curry so I obviously skipped it. I picked a few that I knew I was going to like and went with those, even if I repeated them. Some are easy to prep and make a few portions in advance, some not really. A day for me looked like this: quinoa porridge for breakfast, black bean burgers for lunch and pasta with mushrooms for dinner. Or tofu omelette with salsa for breakfast, lentils soup (instead of the split peas in the recipe) for lunch and some snacks instead of dinner – like hummus with veggies. I mixed and matched the recipes how I wanted, didn’t really matter how they were on the plan, as most of them have similar amount of calories. I liked some of the recipes a lot and stuck with them ever since. Some I didn’t try and for some I replaced some of the ingredients with similar ones. It’s not all or nothing, the main idea is to get off sugar and most of the typical allergens so you can give yourself a reset and see what’s working and what’s not.